


King Crow

by AyrerereKnox



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, F/M, M/M, Minor Omegaverse, Multi, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, kingdom au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 06:46:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10679901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyrerereKnox/pseuds/AyrerereKnox
Summary: King Kageyama Tobio of Karasuno is about to turn 18, for the first time he is in direct control of his own kingdom. A kingdom that was once glorious, now only barely making it through the winters. With pressure from neighboring kingdoms, the young king have to establish his power.The man at the center of the politics is Lord Sawamura Daichi, the Head of the King’s Council and Minister of Internal Affairs. Balancing his duty as a minister, as the next in line as the Duke of Shiroishi and trying to be a man of his own. Torn between duty and love.





	King Crow

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this story had been bugging my mind for a while, so i decided to write it. Bear with me with slow pace of the story, i feel like it's necessary to lay out the political situation for the story to make sense. 
> 
> Later in the story i will introduce some more characters and the drama they bring. *eherm* and original female character that you will hate *eherm*   
> If you want to imagine how the dress, the ladies dress like the European 16th Century Dress - English, French and Italian, the men wore somewhat like the attire in Kyou Kara Maoh. Coz i think the 16th Century court attire for the men are just too .... dressy? 
> 
> Enjoy~

Sometime had passed since the summer sun set it was close to midnight, most of his staff had went home for the night. But Lord Sawamura Daichi was still seated in front of his desk staring at Karasuno Kingdom’s financial condition as he had been for the better part of the day. Deep in thoughts, he did not notice the door of his office opened and a gray haired figure slipped in the room.

“Careful there Lord Sawamura, if there is one more crease on your forehead the maids may think you are dirty laundry and wash you in the stream” teased the new occupant of the room when he saw the tense expression on the broad man’s face.

“Ah, Lord Sugawara, at this point a washing in the stream would be a great relief. It may just wash all our kingdom’s problem away.” Daichi teased back, matching the unnecessary formal title his fried used to greet him earlier.

“You weren’t at dinner, Daichi. When was the last time you get off that horrible chair of yours? I bet you haven’t ate or drink anything this evening. Here, I snuck you some food from the kitchen.” Suga said as he sets a plateful of meal on Daichi’s desk.

Daichi was about to argue that he wasn’t hungry and the gesture of bringing dinner to him was too extensive, considering Lord Sugawara Koshi also has his responsibility as Karasuno’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. But the growl that originated from his stomach stopped him. He blushed in embarrassment when his friend chuckled. “Eat up Dai. The kingdom needs you, we can’t have you dying just yet. I’m serious Daichi, our king will need your help. In a few months, HE will come of age, and he will sits at the throne as the sovereign monarch. The kid will need all of us to show him the way.”

“I know Suga. I have gotten used to working with Lord Ukai as reagent and all of his knowledge in state matters. I don’t know how it will be for our young king. I just hope that he does not find the responsibility too overwhelming.” Daichi said quietly as he started to eat the delicious warm dinner he didn’t know he had craved so much for.

“As long as we are here to guide him along, I think he will be fine. It’s not like His Majesty have never dealt with state matters before. He had been sitting in most Council meetings in the last couple of years. So how is the preparation for His Majesty King Crow’s 18th birthday party? It will have to be a grand occasion right. We need to show our people as well as our neighboring kingdoms that our king is now in full power, and no one can mess with him.”

Hearing the expectation of how grand the king’s birthday party needs to be, Daichi’s appetite evaporated. He knows exactly how grand it needs to be, in order to gain back the trust and confidence of their people, also to show other Kingdoms that Karasuno is not a defeated flightless crow. But it is not that easy. Over the last decade, the kingdom’s income was not what it used to be under the reign of King Tobio’s predecessors, for a while their kingdom just barely made it through. “That is what got me glued in this seat for days Suga, I have been staring at the financial report Asahi sent with the cost prediction for the party. For now, we can afford the party, but that will take a large chunk of our gold, if we don’t find method to increase the state income, we may not make it through the next couple of winters. But it’s not like we can down size the party, we need the grand statement.”

“Hn… And I know that drawing more tax from the people will not be a wise decision, nor taking a loan from another kingdom we don’t have the trust that we used to have back in the day. What does Lord Ukai says about this matter?  At least until December, he still have a job as reagent.” Suga moved over to stand behind Daichi’s chair and read the financial report over Daichi’s broad shoulder. “Eat, Lord Daichi.” Noticing his friend had stopped chewing and deep in thoughts.

“Well, since we have nearly exhausted all possibility to get a boost in our finance, Lord Ukai had come up with a crazy proposal, which I don’t really agree with…..” Suga placed both his hands on Daichi’s shoulders, signaling him to go on. “He said he knew a very wealthy merchant, which can give the people great opportunity. This merchant is also willing to donate a hefty sum of gold to the kingdom. He did not even ask for land in return.”

“Where’s the catch?” asked Suga with an accusing tone in his soft voice, because all his life he knew that merchant were inherently profit oriented. An altruist merchant is too good to be true, even his own sister.

“He has a son. 17 year’s old, kind, and cheerful, so they say.” Daichi draws a long breath “He wants His Majesty Tobio to marry his son. Lord Ukai said the dowry he offered for his son can let us govern comfortable for at least the next year.”

“Lord Ukai wants to sell off our king? Is that you are saying?” clearly the gray haired man is displeased. “How do we know that this will not turn into a political suicide? Giving away that much control to some merchant. Is he even of nobility blood?”

“I told you I did not agree with it. Our king deserves better than a political marriage, he had been cheated out of love for too long, I know.” Referring to how the Queen had died giving birth to the young then-Prince Tobio, and how his father also passed when he was just a child.

Sensed that even more stress was weighting down on Daichi, Suga started to massage the tension on his short haired friend’s stiff shoulders. “C’mon Daichi, it’s late, you are tired. You won’t get much done even if you stay up all night staring at those numbers. Get some rest, start again tomorrow with a clear mind.” With that, he made a move to exit the office, he took Daichi’s hand in his to lead the clearly tired man away from the massive desk and the mountain of papers piled on it. He ignored Daichi’s groan in protest and swatted away Daichi’s hand when he tried to reach for a folder filled with more paper work to take back to his living quarter.

Soon the pair was walking down the quiet castle halls. The silence was comforting in the cool late summer night, as it always had been between the two of them. Daichi and Suga had grown up together, both were sons of great noblemen, they were sent to the capital city to live in the castle as part of the king’s court to get their education when they were young teens. They were in boring classes together studying the law and how to speak foreign languages, witnessed the embarrassingly awkward mandatory dance classes, as well as cross their swords in spars while getting their basic combat training. As both men matured and grow older, together they climb the political and social structure to be at the very top of the court. They had become each other’s constant.

The pair stopped in front of a heavy wooden door in the hallway. “This is me,” said Suga. “I’d see you tomorrow, yes, with a fresh face. Wrinkle free.” His eyes twinkled with amusement in the night light.

The two man should say good night and turn around, Suga to his own room and Daichi to make his way up a floor to his own room. But they stay put, letting more silence settled between them. They were looking at each other, their thoughts oblivious to the others.

Then Daichi took a step back and started to turn around. But a pale hand came around his wrist, stopping his motion. He faced Suga again. Looking deep into molten caramel eyes and perfectly proportioned features. Wordlessly, Suga’s hand made its way to his chin and planted a long sweet kiss on Daichi’s lips. The kiss was simple, no tricks, no hidden intention, no rush, and yet Daichi felt as if he was engulfed in the warmth that was Sugawra Koushi – unable to move for what seemed like a long time.

Before Daichi could react into the kiss, it was over. Suga had withdrawn. “Good night, Daichi.” Then he turned around and disappear behind heavy doors.

 

* * *

 

 

It was a little before 8 in the morning the next day. Lord Sawamura Daichi was preparing to start his day, reading the weekly papers from the nearby town while dressing himself. He always dismissed his servants, preferring to dress himself than having someone else’s hand doing his button, he felt like he could not breathe. He only let his dressed stay when he was preparing for a formal occasion.

The weekly council meeting was going to take place soon, he will have to bring to everyone’s attention to the reality of their kingdom’s state. The fact that if they were to held the grand celebration of their King’s coming of age, they will have to find another way to feed their people. And the fact that the crop yield last spring’s harvest was not as high as they hoped it would be, so the tax they got is lower than expected. Their options were running low, because this year, the crown cannot loan anymore gold from the Dukes and Dutchess of Karasuno, and they cannot loan from the international bank because they no longer trust the Crown.

“Lord Regent Ukai Keishin for you, My Lord.” His guard announced.

“Show him in. Thank you.” He replied, not looking up from his notes for the meeting.

The older man walked into his living quarter. His past glory still evident from the way the Lord Regent carry himself even in his older days. He was the trusted advisor of the late King Crow, one of the great Lord General of Karasuno in its glory days.

“Lord Sawamura.” Greeted the taller man. “The council meeting. We are introducing this year’s Hatchlings right?” as he took a seat adjacent to Daichi on the small dining table that were covered with paper works.

Hatchlings are the batch of young lords and ladies of nobility blood to take apprenticeship in the king’s court to train their ability in governing. They will come in during the summer and stay in the king’s court until the end of the year, then their performances will be evaluated before earning their permanent places in the central government.

“Yes, Your Excellency.” Daichi replied, sensed where the conversation was heading. Not every day the Lord Regent personally visits his chamber just to have small conversation. “And we are still introducing Hinata Shoyo as one of them, if the council members does not have any problem with the fact that he is not of noble birth, then he can be in court.”

“I don’t understand why you don’t just present the young man as the king’s potential bride. Everyone in that room will know that we want the young man for his money anyway, why do we have to insert him in the government?”

“Because I am not lost of all hope that we can find another way to increase our kingdom’s income. And I don’t want to give the illusion to our king that he does not have any choice in choosing his partner, he deserve better than that. Even if in the end he will be taken to Mister Hinata anyway, I want him to find his own affection for the young man. You, yourself, should understand. You broke an arranged marriage engagement to be with Lady Saeko.” Daichi tried to get the Lord Regent to sympathized with their young king by relating it to his own situation with his own wife, Lady Ukai Saeko – nee Tanaka. “Besides having him as part of the government can increase the trust of private merchants to the crown again.”

“Make an example out of him?” asked the older man.

“Yes, Sir.”

“How about the meeting with Nekoma Kingdom? Have we heard anything from them?”

“Lord Sugawara had informed me about their correspondence. King Nekomata will be here in a couple of months, we have started the preparation for his arrival.”

“Is he staying for long? Maybe until the birthday soiree?”

“We don’t know yet, but he is one of the top honors guess. It would be a hassle making a round trip that close to each other, especially for the old cat.”

“Alright then, we’ll smooth out the details when the date of his arrival is fixed. Let’s get to the meeting. God forbid we make the king wait.” Then the taller man stood up and smooth down the non-existent crease on his black jacket.

Daichi was just finishing up with buckling up a leather belt over his deep blue long jacket that goes down to his mid-thigh. He gathered his notes in a leather folder and stood to follow the Lord Regent. He then made a gesture for the man currently ruling the kingdom to walk ahead of him as they exited his private chamber.

As the two men walked to part of the palace that housed all of the governmental offices, their conversation picked back up, but this time in a more hushed tone. As one would never know who were listening along the hallway, because they know that they servants do listen and they do talk.

“How did you came to know the senior Mister Hinata, anyway?” Asked the dark haired man.

“He came to our aid on the last war, he supplied us the much needed timbers to defend our kingdom. I know what you are thinking, that we are in debt with the man. But no, he was also a close friend of the late King Crow, and he is a loyal countrymen willing to do anything for his nation. He reached out to me a few months ago, saying that he knew about our struggles and offered help. But as a private merchant of no noble birth he cannot do much with his position, he has no place in court. So I gave him possibilities to get to court. It’s not like I can just randomly give him a piece of land and raise him to nobility, not with the state that we are in right now, not with the whole nation waiting and watching us.” Explained the blond.

“We can completely trust the man, right. And his son too?”

“Yes, Lord Sawamura Daichi, yes we can. And even if we change our mind, we still have a way out, the young man may just not make it through the Hatchling phase and not stay at court.”

“Good morning, Your Excellency, Lord Sawamura.” A tall broad man greeted the pair, he had soft brown eyes that matched his tied up hair. Lord Azumne Asahi, the man responsible for keeping the Karasuno kingdom finances in check, or also known as the most stressed man in the recent years. It really does take a toll on him, even if he looked like a strong man physically, he had a heart as soft as his eyes. And as his good friend Daichi knew just how much the man was crumbling under the pressure.

“Good morning, Your Excellency, Lord Sawamura” echoed a much shorter man behind Asahi. Lord Nishinoya Yuu, the guardian of Karasuno, in charge of the kingdom’s military and defense force. Also known as the pillar that holds Lord Azumane Asahi upright on his worse days. The two wed not too long ago, they said their sacred vows to each other under the falling sakura petals last spring.

“Good Morning, Lord Azumanes.” Replied the Lord Regent, referring to both men, purposely not making a distinction. Officially Noya’s name was Lord Noshinoya-Azumane Yuu, but that was quite a mouthful, so everyone and even he still refered to him with his unmarried name, only using the proper tittle and long hyphened name during formal announcement. Except when in it early in the morning, and the Lord Regent is in the mood to tease the newlyweds.

It worked, as if on cue Asahi blushed. But his husband just giggled behind him and take a hold of his arms, so now they are linked. The action deepen the red tint on the large man’s scruffy face.

“Good morning, Asahi, Noya.” Daichi replied more casually, trying to ease the emphasis off of their now joint last name for the sake of the gentle giant.

The group made their way to the council meeting chamber. Ukai and Asahi made small talk regarding the state of the kingdom and the upcoming end of summer festival to be held in the cities to celebrate the season’s harvest, because a big market was to be held during the festival- income would be coming in to the crown from all of the market and road tax. And behind them Noya was excitedly telling Daichi stories from his recent wedding tour.

As they neared the chamber, Daichi saw a mop of unmistakable grey hair shining under the morning lights on the other side of the hallway giving a silver like halo around the handsome face it framed. The handsome face was talking to a staff member, giving instruction about god knows what, maybe about something that was not perfect for the meeting, or maybe about a correspondence to some foreign nation, or even just about the horses in the stable. Whatever it was, his face was soothing, with the soft smile permanently painted on his face. The face that paralyzed him last night. The face that pressed against his last night. Remembering the event that transpired before he headed to bed last night, brought a warm feeling to Daichi’s face.

Daichi was brought back to reality when he heard Noya cheerfully greeted the handsome man that was the center of his attention. His heart flutter when Sugawara looked at their direction and smiled widely, he quickly dismissed the staff member he was talking to and made his way to their group.

“Your Excellency, My Lords” Suga said with a polite nod of the head. “Shall we?” he gestured to the open door of the Council Chamber. The group moved along to take their seat on the long council table where they would wait for the arrival of their young king and the Lady Shimizu Kiyoko, the Head of the Royal Household Staff.

Sugawara lingered behind, until he came face to face with Daichi. He gave a mock observation of looking Daichi up and down, and twirling his finger to tell Daichi to turn around. Daichi humored him and twirled. “Much better.” He finally said, after seemingly satisfied with Daichi’s rested face. Then he moved to enter the chamber and take his seat.

Daichi followed, wondering if he just imagined what happened last night. That Suga did not actually kissed him when he dropped him off to his chamber last night. Because right now Sugawara was acting like nothing happened between them. He was being his usual perfect self in his light grey jacket that showed the white collar of his shirt underneath.

But before he had time to think too much about what is between himself and Sugawara. The guard by the door was announcing the arrival of His Majesty King Kageyama Tobio and his cousing Lady Shimmizu Kiyoko. He bowed to the king and they all took their seat and the meeting began.

 

* * *

 

 

 The meeting lasted for 2 hours. It began with the reports from all department; Lord Sawamura Daichi from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lord Sugawara Koushi from the Secretaryof Foreign Affairs, Lord Azumane Asahi from the Secretary of Treasure, Lord Nishinoya-Azumane Yuu from the Secretary of Defense and lastly Lady Shimizu Kiyoko from the Royal Household Management. The reports came with some issues that needed to be resolved, as well as new bills and laws to be made official. They came up with 4 new edits that were to be drafted into law and treaties.

The second item on the meeting’s agenda was the matter of the King’s coming of age party to be held this winter as the king turn 18. They were finalizing the guest list, so that Lord Sugawara can proceed to sending diplomatic invitations to neighboring country and Lord Sawamura can send invitations of Karsono’s own noblemen. The sooner they heard back from the guest, the sooner Lady Shimizu can work on accommodating them and their households. Then Lord Azumane can stress over the crown’s spending.

Then it was time to introduce this year’s Hatchlings. Other than Hinata Shoyo that is going to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affaird under the supervision of Lord Sugawara, they have; Young Lord Tsukishima Kei, working for the Ministry of Defence under Lord Nishinoya; Young Lady Yachi Hitoka, working for the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the supervision of Lord Sawamura; and lastly Young Lord Yamaguchi Tadashi under the strict supervision of Lady Shimizu in Royal Household Management. It seemed that there was minimal resistance from the members of the council. It was only Lady Shimizu that question the decision, because they would be breaking the long tradition by accepting a commoner at court. But she trusted the decision of the Lord Regent and Lord Daichi. They Hatchlings were to arrive within the week and they can all start getting to work.

All throughout the meeting the King was listening intently, not saying much and let Lord Regent Ukai run the show, like he always does. Only speaking once in a while about a certain policy and proposing if a certain adjustment is possible. In the recent years, the King had started attending the meetings and having his opinions considered. He had also started signing royal documents along with the Lord Regent, when previously when he was much younger, the Lord Regent signs everything under the King’s name. The young king is adjusting well with governing, taking more and more responsibilities every day.

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the day went as expected for Daichi, meetings with local lords about taxes and crop yields. Negotiation with builders in trying to repair an abandoned port on the coast. The work load was considerably lighter than in the winter. Because during summer, the regions in Karasuno do not need much help sustaining themselves, they have the crops and grains and they don’t need heating like in the winter. So he can focus on trying to find new business deals that can benefit the Crown’s finance.

The biggest hope right now is the bilateral trade with the Kingdom of Nekoma. Karasuno would supply them with fish from the coast and wool as well as a little grain from the mountain, staple goods that will guarantee a steady demand for Karasuno, a financial security. Because Karasuno have the land and natural resources Nekoma does not, Nekoma got most of their wealth from trading, them being in the path of trade.

The decline of Karasuno kingdom is when the Late King passed, over fifteen years ago. Most of the foreign relationship to the kingdom was severed, because their loyalty lies with the late king instead of the kingdom. And the toddler King Crow was out of power to try and build the relationship. Lord Ukai as Regent have a limited option in trying to rebuild the relationship, as he was a military general instead of a diplomat. The current relationship they had was still new, brought forward by the persistent attempt from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lord Takeda Ittetsu, Sugawara’s retired predecessor.

That afternoon, before the sun set and the evening came, Daichi heard a knock on his door.

“Come in.” He said, the guard that was usually station by his door to announce any individual intending to meet him was not there, he sent the man to deliver a correspondence and a stack of file for Asahi to review.

The door clicked open, and he looked up. He was met with a fluff of grey hair and a smiling face. “I know you have less work today, and I know you are about done for the day, because your guard is not by your door, that means you sent all of the paper work necessary out of your office already. And there is not much you can do until you got those paper back, and the correspondence from the local lords for tomorrow is not in yet.” Suga said confidently, being friends and colleagues for as long as they both were, guaranteed them to remember all of the other’s daily habits.

“What do you want from me Suga?” said Daichi.

“A ride.”

“A ride?”

“It’s summer, the weather is nice. No reason for us not to enjoy it. Remember that small river than ran up the hill? We used to go there so much, no we hardly ever went.”

“Yeah, we did. Before we were strangled with responsibilities, before we were men Suga.” Replied Daichi with a heavy tone.

“Who said grown men cannot take time to enjoy summer? And we are not neglecting out responsibilities. You are about done with today’s work, and I’m done with drafting the royal invitation and all of my correspondence that got delivered today is already tended to. No news from Nekoma just yet, a harvest greetings from Ubugawa, an engagement announcement from Fukurodani, and a baby girl announcement from Aoba Johsai.”

“A baby girl?” asked Daichi, looking up from the last paper he have to review of the day. He noticed his friend had moved from the door to one of the sofas in his office.

“Yeah, King Oikawa Tooru and his queen, whoever her name was – she is not really memorable compared to her over the top husband - just welcomed a baby girl. I was at their wedding last year. It was ridiculous, so many ladies were crying, and I don’t think it’s because they were moved by the royal ceremony, but because they were sad that their handsome king was married, and that means they will not anymore chance to be with him” replied Suga as he re arranged the throw pillows to better support his back as he reclined on the sofa.

“A princess then, the next queen for Aoba Johsai.”

“I’m not sure, in the letter it only announced Her Royal Highness Princess Oikawa, but didn’t say that she is next in line for the throne. There is still a possibility that he is still waiting for a son to be named as heir. Not all kingdom care as little about gender as we do. Both primary and secondary gender.”

Daichi got to the end of the page, decided that a new coat of paint for a temple can wait for another day, or another year for when the gold is flowing comfortably. He stored the paper to a folder. “I’m going to change and meet you in the stables?” he said as he sat up from his chair as he eyes Suga that was lounging on his sofa already out of his formal jacket and already in riding clothes, with a few too many top button of the leather vest undone to reveal light almost translucent thin white shirt underneath.

“Perfect, I’ll tell the stable boy to saddle your horse.” Suga excitedly hopped off the sofa and approach Daichi, planted a kiss on his check before he disappeared out of the office.

It took Daichi a while to recover from the peck. He knew from the years of being friend with the slim man that he was a very friendly person, not afraid to invade personal space. But he has never invaded Daichi’s personal space this way. Not that he was complaining, Suga was a very attractive man, and Daichi was not opposed to being with him. But it was just very confusing, because they were great friends for years, and Suga was acting like it was not a big change in the dynamics of their relationship, and made no move that suggested that he was interested in talking about it.

Daichi made his way to his private quarter, unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his jacket. Peeling it off of his shoulder and draping it across the back of a chair in his dining room. He entered his room and go to his wardrobe, plucking out a riding vest and boots as well as a more comfortable pants to wear. He quickly changed into his riding clothes and struggle to shove his feet in the leather boots. Then grab a more robust leather belt and buckle it across his hip, walking over to his chest of arms he attached a dagger and his favorite broad sword to the belt.

When he got to the stable, Suga was waiting for him. His beloved brown Arabian horse already saddled. Suga handed him the reign. Then he noticed the brown satchel on Suga’s back. He pointed at it.

“Dinner, I stole some from the kitchen. Remind me to stop by the small village to grab a bottle of wine to go with our dinner.” Suga casually replied as he mounted his grey spotted black horse.

“Are you ready to leave, My Lords?” asked the stable boy.

“Yes, oh and please if anyone came and wanted to see me, direct them to my deputy, Lord Ennoshita, he should still be in the palace. And tell my household that I will be dining outside tonight.” Daichi said as he too mounted his ride.

The stable boy nodded and opened the castle gate from the two of them.

They silently galloped to the small town near the hill. Daichi enjoyed the feeling of summer wind on his face, didn’t realize how much he missed it. He looked over at his friend and his heart skipped a beat. Sugawara was riding alongside him, his wavy grey hair blown in the wind, his face glowing with a childish smile.

Noticing Daichi’s eyes on him, Suga shouted. “Race you to the wine shop.” And took off fast with his horse. Not wanting to back down from a challenge Daichi kicked his horse to go after Suga.

The stop in the small town was quick and soon they were on their way up the hill. There was a stream that went down the side of it. There was a small lake near the peak, but it would take too long to get there, and it would have already been dark. So they settled on a small clearing by the stream closer to the foothills, they got off their horses and tied it to a tree close enough to the water so the horses can drink.

“Had this clearing always been this small? I have a feeling it was much larger.” Daichi said as he was standing at the water edge, viewing the area.

Suddenly he felt arms snaking from behind him to then circle around his torso and Suga’s soothing voice said “Or we were much smaller. Or at least all we’ve seen in life are smaller things. It has been a while since we’ve been here last.” Pointy chin was tucked on his shoulder and soft hair tickling the side of his face.

“Suga,” Daichi whispered as he turned around to face his longtime friend. His voice heavy and full of question.

“Shh.. Don’t talk about it, please. Just let it happen Daichi.” Suga said while putting a finger on Daichi’s lips when Daichi came face to face with him.

Daichi was not one to complain, words left him as soon as he saw Suga under the late afternoon lights. Orange light showered over his grey hair, giving it a slightly golden halo. Wind swept hair giving him a weightless young look. And caramel eyes looking at him, drowning him. Without thinking Daichi lean forward and planted his lips on Suga’s. He felt Suga’s eyes widened before eyelashes flutter close against his cheek. The hands that was on his back tightened as the kiss grew. Lips caressing softly. Daichi raised his hand to Suga’s waist to pull him a little closer as the other hand tucked a curl behind his ear. Suga softly sigh at the soft touch.

Reluctantly their lips parted as air was growing thin between them. Daichi looked at Suga’s face, eyes still closed, he looked content. Not able to fight the urge, Daichi tilted his head and planted a kiss on the beauty mark under Suga’s left eye. Earning him a giggle from his friend.

“Is this why you dragged me out of the castle??” Daichi whispered in Suga’s ear.

“Not primarily, but this is a nice bonus.” Suga breathily replied, hands moving to cup square jaw and bringing it to face him. “Daichi…” a small whisper before he tilted his head and kissed Daichi one more time. “Dinner” he said when they parted.

Then the slimmer man moved to where he dropped his satchel. Sat on the soft grass and made himself comfortable before started to pull out fresh bread and cheese. “Open the wine bottle” he commanded Daichi. Daichi uncorked the bottle with the dagger from his belt.

Daichi then settled next to Suga, accepting the piece of bread Suga had torn off for him. The enjoyed the simple dinner in relative silence, making small talks about everything and anything that is not about court business – as Suga had scolded him when he brought up the topic about politics and governing. It was nice. Enjoying the summer air, and watching the sky turn from orange to dark blue.

Daichi did not realize how cramped he felt in the castle until he had the chance to be away from it. He made sure to let Suga know about this, and thanking him for forcefully dragging his ass out of the castle. Suga just hummed in agreement, while watching Daichi that is already spread across the grass on his back.

“It’s getting dark. We should head back to the castle if we don’t want to ride in pitch darkness.” Suga broke the silence.

“A little more please……” Daichi said from behind the arm that covered his face.

“How much longer? I don’t want to have to build a fire, and we have no light to take us back. And I for sure am not spending the night in that dodgy town inn.” Replied Suga. His voice much too close for someone that was sitting next to him.

When Daichi removed his arms from his face and opened his eyes, he was greeted by caramel brown eyes that hovered overhim, it looked like it was glowing under the dying evening lights. Daichi cannot help himself, he reached up and caress the face where the pair of eyes rested. “What are we doing, Suga?”

“Shhht… Don’t talk about it. Please don’t ruin this for us.” And the greay haired man closed the small distance between their lips. Their kisses before this one had been calm, an illusion of innocence – innocence both men knew was taken long ago. But this time it felt different. There was a certain heaviness to it. There was more movement, more desperation in the kiss. As if both men were running out of time to be together. But before the kiss got any heavier, Sugawara pulled away. In one swift motion he stood up, putting distance between his body and Daichi’s.

“Let’s go.” As he turned around and started to untied their horses from the nearby tree.

Daichi had no other choice but to follow. Because he knew better than to push the second son of the Duke Sugawara. Especially not after he had been told more than once not to talk about it. Daichi knew, that when Suga was ready, he would tell him.

They rode quickly back to the castle. Not wanting to be caught in complete darkness. Their well-rested horses keeping up with the race easily. Before long they were at the castle gate.

They came to a halt behind a couple of carriages moving slowly into the palace courtyard. The carriages seemed to come from a long way, carrying many chest and boxes.

“Suga, were we expecting company?”

“Not foreign one that is for sure.”

“Can it be the first of the Hatchlings?”

They got their answers when a blond head stuck out of the front carriage followed by a slim body dressed in expensive summer cotton.

**Author's Note:**

> so so so so ??
> 
> I know it's kinda boring the all the politics, I am very welcoming to any criticism that you have. 
> 
> Love  
> Ayre Knox


End file.
